Bill Handling Device

ABSTRACT

A bill handling machine according to one embodiment of the invention is provided with a casing having a bill insertion slot provided on a front face of the casing to enable a bill to be inserted therein; a bill feeding device having a feeding belt wound at opposite ends around at least tension rollers provided on the upstream and downstream sides respectively along the bill insertion direction, and pinch rollers in contact with the tension rollers on the upstream and downstream sides, to feed the bill inserted from the bill insertion slot along the bill insertion direction. The distance between the pinch rollers in contact with the respective tension rollers on the upstream and downstream sides is set to be shorter than the distance between the tension rollers on the upstream and downstream sides.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a divisional of and is based upon and claims thebenefit of priority under 35 U.S.C. §120 for U.S. Ser. No. 11/423,024,filed Jun. 8, 2006, and claims the benefit of priority under 35 U.S.C. §119 from Japanese Patent Application No. 2005-178272, filed Jun. 17,2005, the entire contents of each which are incorporated herein byreference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a bill handling device which isinstalled in a game hall where, for example, pachinko machines, slotmachines (hereinafter, collectively referred to as a “game machine”) andthe like are installed, and which is capable of being disposed betweengame machines.

Generally, in a game hall such as a pachinko hall, for game player'sconvenience, in a region (also referred to as an “bank”) where many gamemachines are installed, a vertically oriented game media lendingapparatus (also referred to as a “sandwich apparatus”) is installedbetween adjacent game machines to lend pachinko balls, coins (gamemedia) and the like. The game media lending apparatus is attached to aframe fixed and installed between game machines, and actually lends gamemedia and/or transmits a signal to urge to lend game media to a gamemachine by a bill, coin, prepaid card or the like being inserted througha corresponding insertion slot. For example, the bill handling deviceconfigured to handle bills is provided with a bill identifying portionthat identifies an inserted bill, and a bill storage portion (safetybox) that stores bills judged as being valid in the bill identifyingportion.

For example, as disclosed in JP H06-162320, in order to feed billsinserted by a player, the above-mentioned bill handling device isprovided with a pair of feeding belts wound around tension rollers, andpinch rollers in contact with the tension roller portions, and a billinserted from an bill insertion slot is guided to a nip portion betweenthe tension roller and pinch roller by a guide member, and further,guided along the bill identifying portion by the feeding belts. Then, abill judged as being valid in the bill identifying portion is furtherfed downstream without change, and stacked and stored in the billstorage portion according to predetermined operation procedures.

In game halls, to effectively use the space, it is desired toefficiently install a large number of game machines, and with thisdesire, the bill handling device installed between the game machines isalso required to reduce its size as much as possible. In other words, inthe bill handling device, in order to reduce dimensions in the widthdirection, depth direction and vertical direction, it is necessary toeffectively use the space for structural members disposed inside thecasing, mode of their arrangement and the like.

In the bill handling device as disclosed in above-mentioned JPH06-162320, the pinch roller is brought into press-contact with thetension roller, around which the feeding belt is wound, in the directionperpendicular to the bill feeding direction. In a bill ejection portion,a predetermined distance is reserved from the nip portion between thetension roller and pinch roller on the ejection side. Therefore, whenthese mechanisms are applied to a sandwich apparatus installed betweenthe machines, it is not possible to obtain sufficient size reduction. Inother words, since the pinch roller is brought into press-contact in thedirection perpendicular to the feeding direction, it is necessary todispose force-applying means for the press-contact, and provide thespace in the press-contact direction corresponding to the outer diameterof the pinch roller. Further, on the ejection side, subsequentprocessing (processing for stacking and storing the bill) can only beperformed after a rear end of the bill is passed through the billejection portion, and some space is thus wasted in the bill handlingdirection.

Accordingly, such a bill handling device is required that enablesvarious structural members to be efficiently disposed in the limitedinstallation space and thus enables the compact size.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a bill handlingdevice comprising: a bill insertion slot into which a bill is inserted;tension rollers provided respectively on an upstream side where the billis inserted and on a downstream side where the bill is ejected, thetension rollers being mounted to a rotatable support shaft; a conveyingbelt wound around the tension rollers, the conveying belt conveying thebill inserted from the bill insertion slot; a pair of pinch rollersforming a nip portion in contact with the tension rollers while pinchingthe conveying belt between the upstream side and the downstream side;and a bill housing portion for housing the bill ejected from the nipportion between the tension roller on the downstream side and the pinchroller in contact with the tension roller, wherein: the nip portionbetween the tension roller and the pinch roller is set at a positionoffset by a predetermined angle formed in a direction orthogonal to aconveying direction of the bill from a lowest point of the tensionroller so that said pair of pinch rollers is disposed inwardly of thetension rollers on the upstream and downstream sides; and wherein: thebill housing portion is provided at a position extending downwardly ofthe tension roller on the downstream side so as to house the billejected from the nip portion offset on the upstream side between thetension and the pinch roller.

Additional objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth inthe description which follows, and in part will be obvious from thedescription, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objectsand advantages of the invention may be realized and obtained by means ofthe instrumentalities and combinations particularly pointed outhereinafter.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute apart of the specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention, andtogether with the general description given above and the detaileddescription of the embodiments given below, serve to explain theprinciples of the invention.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an entire structure of a billhandling device according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a state where a cover member shownin FIG. 1 is opened;

FIG. 3 is a plan view showing an internal structure of the bill handlingdevice;

FIG. 4 is a view showing the relationship in contact between a tensionroller around which a feeding belt is wound and a pinch roller in a billfeeding mechanism;

FIG. 5 is a view showing a structure of a bill pressing mechanism, wherea pressing plate is opened relative to the cover member;

FIG. 6 is a view showing structures of a plate driving motor and adeceleration mechanism of the motor;

FIG. 7 is a view showing a structure of a link mechanism of the pressingplate to the cover member;

FIG. 8A is a view showing the operation of the pressing plate(non-pressing state);

FIG. 8B is another view showing the operation of the pressing plate(pressing state);

FIG. 9A is a perspective view showing a structure of a mount tray with abill ejected to a bill push-in region;

FIG. 9B is a perspective view showing a structure of the mount tray withbills stacked and stored;

FIG. 10A is a view to explain a state before the pushing plate pushes abill toward the mount tray;

FIG. 10B is a view to explain a state where the pushing plate is pushingthe bill toward the mount tray;

FIG. 10C is a view to explain a state after the pushing plate pushes thebill toward the mount tray;

FIG. 11 is a view showing a structure of a mount tray driving mechanism;

FIG. 12 is a front view showing structures of a shutter mechanism andlock mechanism;

FIG. 13 is a perspective view showing a structure of a shutter drivingmechanism;

FIG. 14A is a side view showing the shutter mechanism being locked;

FIG. 14B is a side view showing the shutter mechanism with the lockreleased;

FIG. 15 is a block diagram showing an example of a configuration ofcontrol means for controlling the operation of the bill handling device;

FIG. 16 is a view showing a state where the mount tray is ejected;

FIG. 17A is a view showing a structure of a typical bill feedingmechanism;

FIG. 17B is a view showing a structure of a bill feeding mechanismaccording to the invention;

FIG. 17C is a view showing the feeding belt wound around a tensionroller of FIG. 17B;

FIG. 18A is another view showing the structure of the typical billfeeding mechanism; and

FIG. 18B is another view showing the structure of the bill feedingmechanism according to the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

One embodiment of the present invention will be described below withreference to accompanying drawings.

FIGS. 1 to 4 are views showing a structure of a bill handling deviceaccording to this embodiment. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing theentire structure. FIG. 2 is a view showing a state where a cover membershown in FIG. 1 is opened. FIG. 3 is a plan view showing an internalstructure of the device. FIG. 4 is a view showing the relationship incontact between a tension roller around which a feeding belt is woundand a pinch roller in a bill feeding mechanism.

The bill handling device 1 is configured to enable its installation intoa game media lending apparatus installed between game machines such as,for example, pachinko machines, slot machines and the like (not shown).In this case, the game media lending apparatus is provided with otherdevices (for example, a coin identifying device, recording mediahandling device, power supply device and the like) above or under thebill handling device 1, and the bill handling device 1 may be integratedwith the other devices or may be configured alone. Alternately, the billhandling device 1 may be installed alone or with the other devices inthe space other than between game machines. Also, the bill handlingdevice 1 may be incorporated within a game machine. Then, when a bill isinserted into such a bill handling device 1 and the validity of theinserted bill is judged, performed is processing of lending game media,processing of writing in a recording medium or the like corresponding toan amount of the bill.

The bill handling device 1 has a casing 1 a formed in the shape of acuboid, and the casing 1 a is attached to an engagement portion of thegame media lending apparatus not shown. A bill handling region 3 isformed on the front face (exposed face) 1 b of the casing 1 a. The billhandling region 3 is provided with a bill insertion slot 3A opened inthe form of a slit to which a bill is inserted, and a openable/closableshutter (ejecting means) 91 which is formed to be adjacent to the billinsertion slot 3A and enables a mount tray (bill storage portion) onwhich bills are stacked and stored to be ejected. In this case, the billB is inserted inside via the bill insertion slot 3A along the directionof the arrow D1 with short sides of the bill in the lengthwise direction(standing state).

In the casing 1 a are provided a bill identifying portion 5 thatidentifies the validity of an inserted bill, and a bill feedingmechanism (a bill feeding device; bill feeding means) 7 that feeds theinserted bill. The bill identifying portion 5 is installed in theposition near the bill insertion slot 3A in the insertion direction, andthe bill feeding mechanism 7 is installed over a region along theinsertion direction D1 from the bill identifying portion 5. In thiscase, the bill feeding mechanism 7 has the function of feeding theinserted bill while pinching the bill, and is configured in sizeaccommodated within a region shorter than the length in the longitudinaldirection of a bill, preferably, within a range less than half of thelength of the bill in the position near the bill insertion slot 3A inthe insertion direction.

In addition, on the downstream side of the bill feeding mechanism 7 isprovided a bill push-in region 10 to slide a bill ejected by a pair ofdownstream-side rollers constituting the bill feeding mechanism withoutchange. The bill push-in region 10 has substantially almost the samesize as the size of the bill so that the region 10 is able to carry thebill ejected from the pair of downstream-side rollers toward thedirection of the arrow D2 perpendicular to the ejection directionwithout any restrictions while keeping the state of the bill. The billpush-in region 10 is thus positioned on the downstream side of the billfeeding mechanism 7, and a bill pressing mechanism (a bill pressingdevice; bill pressing means) 30 is provided on one side of the casing,while a mount tray (bill storage portion; mount means) 60 is provided onthe other side of the casing, to sandwich the bill push-in region 10. Inother words, the bill ejected to the push-in region 10 by the feedingdriving of the bill feeding mechanism 7 is pressed toward the directionof the arrow D2 by a pressing plate of the bill pressing mechanism 30without change, and successively stacked and stored on the mount tray60, as described later.

The bill feeding mechanism 7 extends along the bill insertion directionD1, and is provided with a pair of feeding belts 17 a, 17 b spaced apredetermined distance apart from each other. The feeding belts 17 a, 17b are wound at one end around tension rollers (tension rollers on theupstream side) 18 a, 18 b attached to a spindle 18 supported rotatablyby an internal frame id on the bill insertion slot 3A side, while beingwound at the other end around tension rollers (tension rollers on thedownstream side) 19 a, 19 b attached to a spindle 19 supported rotatablyby the internal frame 1 d at the back of the bill identifying portion 5,respectively.

The spindle 19 is rotary-driven by a feeding motor 20 disposed in theinternal frame 1 d. In other words, the spindle 19 is rotary-driven viaa gear 20G fixed to a driving shaft of the feeding motor 20 and a gear19G, engaging in the gear 20G, fixed to an end portion of the spindle19. The feeding motor 20 is controlled to be driven in forward rotationand reverse rotation by control means (controller) described later, andhas the function as a driving source of the bill feeding mechanism 7.

The tension rollers 18 a, 18 b and tension rollers 19 a, 19 b installedat opposite ends are respectively in contact with pinch rollers 21 a, 21b and pinch rollers 22 a, 22 b. In this case, as shown in FIG. 4, thedistance L1 between the pinch rollers 21 a (21 b), 22 a (22 b)respectively contacting the tension rollers 18 a (18 b), 19 a (19 b) atopposite ends is set to be shorter than the distance L between thetension rollers 18 a (18 b), 19 a (19 b) at opposite ends. In otherwords, a bill inserted into the bill insertion slot 3A is guided to anip portion N1 between the tension roller 18 a (18 b) and pinch roller21 a (21 b) by a guide 3B installed inside the casing, then fed whilebeing pinched between the rollers, and finally, ejected to the billpush-in region 10 via a nip portion N2 between the tension roller 19 a(19 b) and pinch roller 22 a (22 b).

In addition, the tension rollers around which the feeing belts are woundmay be provided at middle positions other than the opposite ends.

The bill identifying portion 5 has a sensor board 5A, and the sensorboard 5A is provided with a bill insertion sensor 25 in a portion closerto the bill insertion slot 3A than the spindle 18. The bill insertionsensor 25 is comprised of, for example, an optical sensor, and detectsthat a bill is inserted into the bill insertion slot 3A. Then, when thebill insertion sensor 25 detects insertion of a bill, the control meansdescribed later rotary-drives (drives in forward rotation) the feedingmotor 20 in the bill feeding direction.

On the bill sensor board 5A are further provided bill identifyingsensors 26 installed between the spindles 18 and 19. Each of the billidentifying sensors 26 is comprised of an optical sensor to emit a lightbeam to a fed bill when the bill is fed by the bill feeding mechanism 7as described above. The bill identifying sensors 26 are installed in aplurality of portions along the direction perpendicular to the billinsertion direction D1. A CPU of the control means described latercompares detected data obtained by the reflected light and/ortransmitted light from the bill with data on an authorized billbeforehand stored in ROM, and judges the validity of the bill.

The bill pressing mechanism 30 is provided on one side of the casing forthe bill push-in region 10. The bill pressing mechanism 30 has a covermember 31 openable/closable relative to the casing 1 a, a plate-shapedpressing plate 32 which is provided in the cover member 31 and presses abill toward the direction of the arrow D2 when the bill is positioned inthe bill push-in region 10 with the cover member closed relative to thecasing 1 a, and a plate driving motor that drives the pressing plate 32.

A structure of the bill pressing mechanism 30 will be described belowwith reference to FIGS. 5 to 8C. In addition, in theses figures, FIG. 5is a view showing a state where the pressing plate is opened relative tothe cover member, FIG. 6 is a view showing structures of the platedriving motor and a deceleration mechanism of the motor, FIG. 7 is viewshowing a structure of a link mechanism of the pressing plate to thecover member, and FIGS. 8A and 8B are views showing the operation of thepressing plate, and respectively show the non-pressing state andpressing state.

The pressing plate 32 has substantially almost the same size as the sizeof the bill, and is supported by the cover member 31 to be movabletoward the direction of the arrow D2 by a link mechanism (a link device;moving means) 35 that couples the backside on one end side of thepressing plate 32 and the backside on the other end side of the covermember 31. The opposite ends of the link mechanism 35 are supportedpivotally via spindles 31A, 32A provided in the cover member 31 andpressing plate 32, respectively. By such a link mechanism, the pressingplate 32 is supported to come close and separate to/from the covermember 31 while being parallel with the cover member 31, as shown inFIGS. 7 and 8(8A, 8B).

The plate driving motor 33 is installed on the backside of the covermember 31, and the pressing plate 32 is driven to reciprocate in thedirection of the arrow D2 by the plate driving motor 33 beingrotary-driven.

Further, on the backside of the cover member 31 are provided adeceleration mechanism (gear train) 37 that conveys the rotary-drivingof the plate driving motor 33 to the pressing plate 32 side, and arotatable push-down arm 38 rotary-driven by a final gear 37 a of thedeceleration mechanism 37. The push-down arm 38 is provided at its rearend portion with the final gear 37 a and whereby rotary-driven about therear end portion, while being provided at its front end portion with anengaging protrusion 38 a. The engaging protrusion 38 a engages in a longgroove 32 b formed in a protrusion member 32 a attached to the backsideof the pressing plate 32. The pressing plate 32 is driven to reciprocatealong the direction of the arrow D2 by the push-down arm 38 beingrotary-driven about the rear end portion. In addition, as shown in FIG.5, the protrusion member 32 a is exposed via an opening 35 a formed inthe link mechanism 35, and thus installed not to interfere with theoperation of the link mechanism 35.

The pressing plate 32 has a shape for vertically drooping (protruding)toward the pressing direction by a predetermined distance, and hasflanges (extensions; abutting means) 32 c formed at opposite sides inthe longitudinal direction. By this means, the pressing plate 32 isconfigured to enter the opening of the mount tray 60 described laterwhen driven in the push-down direction by the push-down arm 38, whilebeing prevented from entering any more when entering the opening to someextent, by the both flanges 32 c coming into contact with the engageportions (engage means) 61 c of the mount tray 60 described later. Inother words, by providing such flanges 32 c, the pressing plate 32 iscapable of applying the uniform pressing force to the bill in thelongitudinal direction, although its one side is supported by the linkmechanism 35.

Further, in this embodiment, to the backside of the cover member 31 isattached a control board (constituting the control means) 40 thatcontrols the driving of various driving mechanisms in the bill handlingdevice 1. The control circuit board 40 is connected to an optical sensor(rotation detecting sensor) 42 that detects an amount of rotation of thepush-down arm 38, and when the amount of rotation of the push-down arm38 i.e. a push-down amount of the pressing plate 32 becomes apredetermined state, controls to halt the driving of the plate drivingmotor 33. Thus, the plate driving motor 33 is prevented from undergoingthe action of unnecessary load.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the mount tray 60 is provided on the otherside of the casing for the bill push-in region 10. The mount tray 60 isconfigured to successively stack and store bills pressed by the pressingplate 32. A structure of the mount tray will be described below withreference to FIGS. 9 (9A, 9B) and 10 (10A-10C).

The mount tray 60 has a main body 61 provided with a bottom wall 61 aand side walls 61 b formed at opposite sides of the bottom wall 61 a.

A mount plate (a bill mount portion) 62 on which a bundle of bills ismounted is provided between the opposite walls 61 b of the main body 61,and given force to be pressed by a force-applying spring (urging spring;urging means) 63 installed between the plate 62 and bottom wall 61 a ofthe main body 61. A pair of engage portions 61 c extending along thelongitudinal direction of a bill to be stored are formed at end portionson the opening side of both of the side walls 61 b. The engage portions61 c have the function of making a separation between a bill ejected tothe bill push-in region 10 via the bill feeding mechanism 7 and a bundleof bills stored inside the main body 61, as shown in FIGS. 9A and 10A.In other words, when the bill ejected to the bill push-in region 10 ispressed by the pressing plate 32, as shown in FIG. 10B, the bill iscarried onto the mount plate 62 while sagging in the center by theengage portions 61 c, and after getting over the engage portions 61 c,as shown in FIGS. 9B and 10C, mounted on the mount plate 62 against theforce applied by the force-applying spring 63. Then, when the pressingplate 32 returns to the initial position, a bundle of bills stacked andstored on the mount plate 62 is brought into contact at opposite endportions with the pair of engage portions 61 c by the force applied bythe force-applying spring 63.

By this means, as shown in FIG. 10A, the clearance R is formed betweenthe uppermost bill among bills stacked and stored on the mount plate 62and the pressing plate 32 and the separation is made. In other words,the bill ejected via the bill feeding mechanism 7 is sent into theclearance R, and the bill sent therein is successively stacked andstored inside the mount tray 60 by the driving of the pressing plate 32in the initial position.

In addition, too broad clearance R becomes a cause of jam occurring inthe case where the bill has wrinkles, while too narrow clearance R failsto stably send the bill. More specifically, a preferable range of theclearance is about 3 to 5 mm, and in the bill push-in region 10, thebill pressing mechanism 30 and mount tray 60 can be disposed to formsuch a clearance.

The bill to be stacked and stored in the main body 61 of the mount tray61 is held by the mount plate 62 given the force to be pressed and theengage portions 61 c, and by such a constitution, a bundle of bills isexposed at the front end side. Therefore, as described later, when themount tray 60 is driven and the front end side thereof protrudes fromthe front face 1 b of the casing 1 a, the front end portion of thebundle of bills stacked and stored on the mount plate 62 is exposed, andtherefore, an operator is capable of easily pulling the bundle of billstoward the front to perform the collecting operation.

In this case, the length of the main body 61 (mount plate 62) in thelongitudinal direction (length of the bill mount surface) is formed tobe shorter than the length of an inserted bill, as shown in FIG. 9B.When the length of the mount plate 62 is thus shorter, a bundle of billsstacked and stored on the plate 62 is exposed at upper front end andlower front end, and the operator is whereby capable of easily graspingthe bundle of bills to pull out. Further, by configuring in such amanner, the operator eliminates the need of touching the mount plate 62formed of metal such as SUS and the like by finger, and the safety isenhanced at the time of the collecting operation. Alternately, as shownin FIGS. 9A and 9B, a concave portion 62 a may be formed in the centerof a front end edge of the mount plate 62, and also in such aconfiguration, a bundle of bills is easy to grasp, and theabove-mentioned effects and advantages are obtained.

In addition, notch portions (interference preventing means) 61 dextending in the bill insertion direction are formed on the casing sideof the front end side of both side walls 61 b of the main body 61 over apredetermined range. By forming such notch portions 61 d, when theshutter is opened by a shutter mechanism and the mount tray 60 is drivenin the protrusion direction, the interference between the opened shutterand main body 61 is canceled, and it is possible to effectively obtainthe efficient space.

Further, a bill detecting sensor (bill detector; bill detecting means)128 (see the block diagram in FIG. 15) may be provided in the mount tray60 to detect the presence of a bill on the mount tray 62.

Referring to FIGS. 3 and 11, described below is a mount tray drivingmechanism for driving the above-mentioned mount tray.

The mount tray driving mechanism 70 is provided with a tray drivingmotor 71 fixed to the internal frame 1 d of the casing 1 a, and adriving shaft (worm shaft) 72 rotary-driven by the tray driving motor71. The driving shaft 72 is supported rotatably by the internal frame toextend in the bill insertion direction, and provided on the outercircumference surface with a male thread 72 a. Further, the drivingshaft 72 is coupled on one end side to an output axis of the traydriving motor 71 via a gear train 73.

A coupling piece 66 is formed at the rear end portion of the main body61 of the mount tray 60, and to this portion is coupled a slide member75 disposed to surround the driving shaft 72. In the slide member 75 isformed a female thread portion (not shown) to screw with the male threadportion 72 a of the driving shaft 72. By the driving shaft 72 beingrotary-driven, the slide member 75 i.e. the mount tray 60 is capable ofbeing driven to reciprocate along the axis direction. In this case, theslide member 75 is inserted into a guide rod 76 disposed in parallelwith the driving shaft 72 to restrict its rotation when reciprocating.

Then, the mount tray driving mechanism 70 is provided with shift amountdetecting means 80 capable of detecting a shift amount of the mount tray60. The shift amount detecting means 80 is comprised of, for example, adisk-shaped rotary member 81 attached to a portion of the output axis ofthe tray driving motor 71 protruding on the opposite side, and arotation amount detecting sensor (optical sensor) 82 disposed to pinchthe rotary member 81 via a clearance. Encoders 81 a (openings spaced ata predetermined interval along the circumference direction) are formedin the rotary member 81, and when the encoders 81 a rotate insynchronization with the rotation of the tray driving motor 71, therotation amount detecting sensor 82 is capable of obtaining pulsescorresponding to the rotation amount, and corresponding to the number ofpulses, recognizing the shift amount of the mount tray 60.

By providing such shift amount detecting means 80, it is made possibleto accurately control a stop position in the protrusion direction of themount tray 60, and reduce the load on the tray driving motor 70.

Further, the mount tray driving mechanism 70 is further provided withposition detecting means 85 capable of detecting a storage position(that enables a bill to be accommodated: accommodation position) of themount tray 60. Such position detecting means 85 is constructed by, forexample, providing a latch piece (not shown) in the slide member 75 fordriving the mount tray 60, and attaching a limit switch 86, which isswitched on and off by the latch piece contacting and separating, to theinternal frame 1 d.

By providing such position detecting means 85, it is made possible torecognize a state of the mount tray 60 (whether the tray is in thestorage position or collection position), and the mount tray 60 can bedriven suitably at the time of bill collecting operation.

Bills stacked and stored on the mount tray 60 can be collected byopen-driving the shutter mechanism 90 disposed adjacent to the billinsertion slot 3A in the bill handling region 3. A structure of theshutter mechanism will be described below with reference to FIGS. 2, 3and 12 to 14B.

The shutter mechanism 90 has a shutter (shield plate) 91 that closes arectangular opening formed in the bill handling region, and a shutterdriving mechanism 92 that rotary-drives the shutter 91. The shutter 91is formed as a substantially rectangular plate member, and rotatablysupported at its rear end portion by a spindle 91 a relative to theinternal frame of the casing. The shutter driving mechanism 92 has ashutter driving motor 95. The shutter driving motor 95 is coupled to thespindle 91 a via a gear train 96 constituting the deceleration mechanismcoupled to a driving shaft 95 a of the motor 95, and arm-shaped linkmembers 97 a, 97 b successively coupled to the gear train 96.

More specifically, when the shutter driving motor 95 is driven and thedriving shaft 95 a is rotary-driven, the rotary-driving force isdecelerated via the gear train 96. A spindle of the link member 97 a isconnected to an output gear 96 a of the gear train 96, and by drivingthe shutter driving motor 95 in forward rotation, the link member 97 ais rotary-driven from the state as shown in FIG. 14A to the state asshown in FIG. 14B. The link member 97 a is coupled to the other endportion of the link member 97 b coupled at the rear end portion to thespindle 91 a. By rotary-driving the link member 97 a as shown in thefigure, the shutter 91 is rotary-driven by substantially 90 degrees fromthe vertical state toward the inside of the casing via the link member97 b.

In addition, the shutter driving mechanism 92 is provided with rotationamount detecting means 100 capable of detecting a rotation amount of theshutter 91. The rotation amount detecting means 100 is comprised of, forexample, an encoder 101 formed on the surface of an input gear 96 b ofthe gear train 96, and a rotation amount detecting sensor (reflectiveoptical sensor) 102 that detects a rotation amount of the encoder 101.

By providing such rotation amount detecting means 100, it is madepossible to accurately control a stop position when the shutter 91 isrotated by approximately 90 degrees, and to reduce the load on theshutter driving motor 95.

Further, in association with the shutter mechanism 90, a lock mechanism(a lock device; lock means) 110 is provided to lock a close state of theshutter 91.

The lock mechanism 110 is comprised of a concavo-convex (a firstconcavo-convex section) 112 continuously formed at the upper end edge ofthe shutter 91 driven to open and close, a lock plate 113 movable in thewidth direction (the direction of the arrow) in the internal frame ofthe casing, and driving means, for example, solenoid 116 capable ofdriving the lock plate 113 along the width direction. The lock plate 113is provided with a concavo-convex (a second concavo-convex section) 114corresponding to the concavo-convex 112, and always given force by aforce-applying spring (urging means) 117 to cause the concavo-convex 112and 114 not to match (see FIG. 13).

Then, when bills are collected, by driving the solenoid 116, the lockplate 113 is driven in the width direction against the force applied bythe force-applying spring 117 so that the concavo-convex 112 and 114 arematched (see FIG. 12). By this means, the lock state of the shutter 91is released, and the shutter 91 rotates toward the inside of the casingvia the shutter driving mechanism 92 to enable the mount tray 60 to beejected.

FIG. 15 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a configuration ofthe control means for controlling the operation of the above-mentionedbill handling device 1.

As described above, the control means is provided with the controlcircuit board 40 that is attached to the backside of the cover member 31and that controls the operation of each of above-mentioned actuators.The control circuit board 40 is comprised of a CPU 130 having thefunction of controlling the operation of various driving devices such asthe feeding motor 20, plate driving motor 33, tray driving motor 71,shutter driving motor 95, solenoid 116 and the like, ROM 131 that storesoperation programs of the various driving devices, detection data on theauthorized bills and the like, and control RAM 132.

The CPU 130 is connected via an I/O port 135 to motor driving circuits140 to 143 that drive above-mentioned various motors. The drivingoperation (forward rotation, reverse rotation and stop) of each of thedriving motors is controlled by a control signal from the CPU 130according to the operation program. Further, to the CPU 130 are inputvia the I/O port 135 a signal of detecting insertion of a bill from thebill insertion sensor 25, a detection signal on judgment of the billfrom the bill identifying sensor 26, a detection signal on a pressingposition of the pressing plate 32 from the rotation detecting sensor 42,a detection signal on a position of the mount tray 60 from the rotationamount detecting sensor 82, a detection signal on whether the mount trayis in the accommodation position or not from the limit switch 86, and adetection signal on a rotation position of the shutter 91 from therotation amount detecting sensor 102. Based on the detection signals,the driving is controlled of the feeding motor 20, plate driving motor33, tray driving motor 71, shutter driving motor 95, and solenoid 116.

The CPU 130 is further connected to a control circuit 200 that isdisposed in the game machine body not shown and that executes the gameprocessing, and transmits game value information corresponding to theamount of an inserted bill to the game machine side.

Moreover, a release signal to release the lock state (drive the solenoid116) in the lock mechanism 110 is input to the CPU 130 of the controlcircuit board 40. For example, signal transmitting means 300 fortransmitting the release signal is connected via a communication network400, and can be configured as a part of the function of a managementserver that manages bank facilities, and it is thus possible tocollectively drive and release shutters of bill handling devices in thebank facilities at the work time for collection, for example.

Described next is the operation of the bill handling device 1 with theabove-mentioned structure.

Described first are procedures for successively stack and store bills onthe mount tray 60.

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, when a bill B is inserted into the billinsertion slot 3A while letting the bill B stand with the short sidesstanding vertically, the bill insertion sensor 25 detects the insertion.When the bill insertion sensor 25 detects the insertion of the bill, thefeeding motor 20 is driven in forward rotation, and the bill B is fedinside the casing while being pinched by the feeding belts 17 a, 17 brespectively wound around the tension rollers 18 a, 18 b and tensionrollers 19 a, 19 b, and pinch rollers 21 a, 21 b and pinch rollers 22 a,22 b in contact with respective tension rollers.

When the bill B is fed to the inside of the casing, the bill identifyingsensor 26 detects the bill, and the above-mentioned control means judgesthe validity of the bill. In this case, when the bill identifying sensor26 cannot judge the validity of the bill B, the feeding motor 20 isdriven in reverse rotation, and the bill B being fed undergoes thesending back action, and is ejected from the bill insertion slot 3A.

Meanwhile, when the bill B is judged as being valid, the feeding motor20 is driven to rotate until the rear end of the bill B has passedthrough the nip portion N2 between the tension rollers 18 a, 18 b andpinch rollers 22 a, 22 b. At this point, as shown in FIGS. 9A and 10A,the bill B is ejected to the inside of the clearance R between thepressing plane of the pressing plate 32 in the bill push-in region 10positioned downstream of the tension rollers 19 a, 19 b and pinchrollers 22 a, 22 b and the plane including the engage portions 61 of themount tray 60. In addition, the clearance is set in a range such that ajam and the like do not occur, and when necessary, a guide (not shown)may be provided downstream of the nip portion N2 to facilitate moving ofthe bill to the clearance R.

In the stage that the rear end of the bill has passed through the nipportion N2, the forward-rotation driving of the feeding motor 20 ishalted, and the plate driving motor 33 is rotary-driven. By this means,the pressing plate 32 is driven in the push-down direction by thepush-down arm 38, and presses the bill by its lower plane (see FIG.10B). Then, the bill pressed by the pressing plate 32 gets over a pairof engage portions 61 c of the mount tray 60, and is pressed on themount plate 62 against the force applied by the force-applying spring63. The pressing force of the pressing plate 32 in the bill directionvaries with the support position of the link mechanism 35, but thesubstantially equal pressing force is acted on the bill along thelongitudinal direction, by the flanges (extensions) 32 c formed at bothsides of the pressing plate 32 coming into contact with the engageportions 61 c. In other words, the plate 32 is capable of evenly holdingdown the entire bill, and it is thus possible to accommodate apredetermined number of bills reliably even when the bill is bent and/orthe bill becomes firmer (as the number of stacked bills increases). Inaddition, the position of the push-down arm 38 is detected by therotation detecting sensor 42, and when the arm is in an appropriateposition (the flanges 32 c of the pressing plate 32 are brought intocontact with the engage portions 61 c), the driving of the plate drivingmotor 33 is halted.

Then, after the pressing plate 32 is given the predetermined pressingforce and the flanges (extensions) 32 c are brought into contact withthe engage portions 61 c, the plate driving motor 33 is driven inreverse rotation, and the pressing plate 32 is returned to the initialposition. At this point, the mount plate 62 is acted upon by the forceapplied by the force-applying spring 63 toward the engage portions 61 cside, and the uppermost bill is brought into contact with the engageportions 61 c as shown in FIG. 10C, and thus is separated from a bill tobe inserted next.

Subsequently, the above-mentioned operation is repeated, whereby billsare stably stacked and stored on the mount plate 62 of the mount tray60.

Described next are procedures for collecting bills accommodated in themount tray 60.

At the time of collecting the bills, for example, the management server(signal transmitting means 300) that manages the entire hall transmits asignal for releasing the lock mechanism 110 to each bill handling device1 installed in the bank. In this case, for example, the managementserver may control to release lock mechanisms of bill handling devicesin the entire bank, or may control to release lock mechanisms of billhandling devices in a line of the bank. When the bill handling devicereceives the release signal, the solenoid 116 is driven, and the lockplate 113 is driven in the width direction against the force applied bythe force-applying spring 117. By this means, the concavo-convex 114 ofthe lock plate 113 accords with the concavo-convex 112 formed in theshutter 91, and by rotary-driving the shutter driving motor 95 in thisstate, the shutter 91 is opened (see FIG. 14B). In addition, therotation amount of the shutter driving motor 95 is detected by therotation amount detecting sensor 102, and the driving of the motor 95 ishalted when the shutter is in the appropriate position (where theshutter falls by substantially 90 degrees).

When the driving of the shutter driving motor 95 is halted, the traydriving motor 71 is rotary-driven, and the mount tray 60 is ejected onthe front end side from the front face of the casing. As describedabove, since the notch portions 61 d are formed at both side walls 61 bof the main body 61 of the mount tray 60, the tray 60 does not interferewith the falling shutter 91, and the front end is ejected. In addition,the rotation amount of the tray driving motor 71 is detected by therotation amount detecting sensor 82, and the mount tray 60 is halted inan appropriate position.

When the driving of the mount tray 60 is halted, a bundle of billsmounted on the mount plate 62 is held while being exposed on the frontend side as shown in FIG. 16, and therefore, an operator is capable ofgrasping the exposed bundle of bills to pull out without change, andthus, efficiently performing the operation for collecting bills.Particularly, in this embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 9A and 9B, thelength of the mount plate 62 to mount bills is formed shorter than thelength of the bill, and further, the concave portion 62 a is formed inthe center of the front end edge of the mount plate 62. Therefore, whenthe mount tray 60 protrudes, it is made possible to easily pick up thefront end portion of a bundle of bills stacked and stored, and theoperation for collecting the bill is made easy to perform.

Then, at the time of bill collecting operation, when the bill detectingsensor 128 detects that no bill exists on the mount plate 62 (when thecollecting operation is finished), the processing is executed that isinverse to the above-mentioned processing procedures after a lapse ofpredetermined time. In other words, the tray driving motor 71 is drivenin reverse rotation, and the mount tray 60 is returned to theaccommodation position. In the stage that the limit switch 86 detectsthe presence of the mount tray 60, the shutter driving motor 95 isdriven in reverse rotation to turn the shutter 91 to the closed state.Subsequently, by canceling the force of the solenoid 116, the lock plate113 is returned to the initial position, and the lock mechanism 110 isactivated.

The lock mechanism 110 is thus activated automatically when detectingthat any bills are not present on the mount plate 62. Therefore, theoperator is only required to perform the bill collecting operationwithout any need to perform other operations, and is capable ofperforming the bill collecting operation with high efficiency. Further,according to such a constitution, omission (human error) of lock of theshutter 91 is reliably prevented in the bill collecting operation, andsecurity is whereby enhanced. In addition, the above-mentioned controlmeans may be configured not to release the lock mechanism when a bill isnot present on the mount plate 62 in receiving a signal to release thelock mechanism. In other words, in a state where a bill is not present,the lock mechanism remains maintained without driving the mount tray 60,and it is whereby possible to reliably prevent the lock from beingomitted and the like.

In addition, the release of the lock mechanism 110 may be performed by adedicated portable terminal that the operator possesses. For example,each bill handling device may be provided with an infrared receivingportion 500 (see FIGS. 1 and 15), and release the lock mechanism 110when receiving a predetermined lock release signal from the portableterminal via the infrared receiving portion. In other words, accordingto such a constitution, it is possible to release the lock mechanism toperform the collecting operation individually on a large number of billhandling devices. Alternately, such a release operation may be performedcollectively by the portable terminal via the management server. Inother words, lock mechanisms may be released collectively for the entirebank or for each line of the bank by the operation of the portableterminal.

According to the bill handling device configured as described above,various structural members are efficiently disposed in the limitedinstallation space, whereby making the device compact, and further, itis possible to perform the bill collecting operation efficiently.

In other words, in the bill handling device with the above-mentionedconstitution, a bill inserted into the bill insertion slot 3A is fedwithout change by the bill feeding mechanism 7, and ejected toward theclearance R of the bill push-in region 10 positioned downstream of themechanism 7. Since the bill push-in region 10 is not provided with anyfeeding mechanism (feeding rollers and the like) to feed the bill towardthe insertion direction, the space can be acquired in the widthdirection of the casing 1 a, and it is made possible to efficientlyinstall the bill pressing mechanism 30 and mount tray 60 to stack andstore bills in the width direction in this region.

Further, as shown in FIG. 4, the distance between the pinch rollers isset to be shorter than the distance between the tension rollers, aposition of installation of the pinch roller is provided with an offsetin the direction perpendicular to the bill feeding direction, and inthis perpendicular direction, the space can be reduced.

The foregoing will more specifically be described with reference toFIGS. 17A to 17C.

As shown in FIG. 17A, when the distance between the tension rollers 18Aand 19A is set to be equal to the distance between the pinch rollers 21Aand 22A, and the pinch rollers 21A and 22A are respectively brought intopress-contact with the tension rollers 18A and 19A around which afeeding belt 17A is wound in the direction perpendicular to the billinsertion direction D1, a region shown by W1 in the figure is requiredfor the installation space of the feeding mechanism 7. In contrastthereto, as shown in FIG. 17B, the pinch rollers 21A and 22A are set tocontact the tension rollers 18A and 19A in positions such that thedistance between the rollers 21A and 22A is shorter than the distancebetween the tension rollers 18A and 19A, and whereby provided with anoffset in the direction perpendicular to the bill insertion directionD1, whereby corresponding to the offset, the space of the feedingmechanism 7 is reduced. In other words, the installation space can be aregion shown by W2 smaller than W1.

Further, as shown in FIG. 17C, since the feeding belt 17A wound aroundthe tension rollers 18A and 19A is given the tension in arch-shape bythe contact of the pinch rollers 21A and 22A, the need is eliminated ofinstalling force applying means in the pinch roller portion, andcorresponding to the eliminated need, the space is reduced, while theconstruction is simplified (the figure shows the tension roller 18Aside, and the tension is given in the range of an angle theta. from thelowest point P1 of the tension roller 18A to the nip portion N1.)

Furthermore, as described above, since the feeding belt 17A is given thetension in arch-shape, even when a fed bill has curl (wrinkles, bucklingand bending), the bill undergoes the correction action in passingthrough the portion, and it is possible to resolve the curl of the bill.In other words, as compared with the construction such that the tensionportion of the feeding belt 17A is of point contact as shown in FIG.17A, the effect of correcting wrinkles of the bill is enhanced.

Moreover, as shown in FIG. 18B, on the downstream side in the billfeeding direction D1, the nip portion N2 between the tension roller 19Aand pinch roller 22A can be provided with an offset toward the upstream,and it is thus possible to install the handling mechanism (bill pressingmechanism) for handling an ejected bill as close to the bill insertionslot as possible, and to reduce the space in the bill feeding direction.In other words, as can be seen from comparison with FIG. 18A,considering position P3 on the periphery that is the rearmost end of thepinch roller 22A, as shown in FIG. 18B, the position is provided with anoffset to the upstream side as compared with the construction shown inFIG. 18A, the bill pressing region toward the direction D2 can wherebybe shifted to the upstream side, and as a result, it is possible todispose the bill pressing mechanism 30 close to the feeding mechanism 7side, and implement reduction in space in the bill feeding direction.

Further, the separation between the mount tray 60 and a fed bill is madesimply by the engage portions 61 c for separation formed in the mounttray 60, the construction is whereby simplified, and it is possible toeffectively use the space inside the casing. In other words, by simplyproviding the mount tray 60 with the engage portions 61 c with whichopposite edge portions of the bill come into contact, while the billpush-in region 10 is formed between the tray 60 and pressing plate 32,separation between the tray and the bill ejected to the bill push-inregion is made easily. As a result, it is possible to dispose the mounttray 60 and bill pressing mechanism 30 adjacent to each other in thewidth direction, efficiently ensure installation space for the tray 60and mechanism 30, and acquire adequate space for stacking bills.

Furthermore, in the above-mentioned constitution, since various drivingmechanisms are disposed inside the casing, wiring space is required forcoupling the various driving mechanisms, control circuit board andexternal apparatus. In this case, by forming a pattern of signal linesand communication lines on the sensor board 5A installed between bothside walls of the casing, the wiring can be omitted, and it is possibleto make the internal space efficient and reduce the size of the entiredevice.

Then, the mount tray 60, on which bills are stacked and mountedsuccessively from the bill push-in region 10 by the bill pressingmechanism 30, protrudes on the front end side from the front face of thecasing 1 a by the mount tray driving mechanism 70. At this point, abundle of bills stacked and stored on the mount tray 60 is held whilebeing exposed on the front end side, and therefore, an operator iscapable of pulling out the exposed bundle of bills from the front, andthus, efficiently performing the operation for collecting bills. In thiscase, since a bundle of bills is reliably held by the engage portions 61c of the mount tray 60 and mount plate 62, such an inconvenience doesnot occur that bills are left inside the casing at the time ofcollecting operation.

While the embodiment of the present invention is explained in theforegoing, the present invention is characterized by a mode ofarrangement of the tension rollers and pinch rollers in contact with thetension rollers in the bill feeding mechanism, and in that a billejected to the bill push-in region is pushed in the directionperpendicular to the bill feeding direction. Structural members such asvarious driving mechanisms and the like disposed inside the casing areillustrated only as examples, and specific structures thereof arecapable of being modified as appropriate when allowed to perform thesame processing and operation.

The bill handling device of the present invention is capable of beinginstalled in various devices that handle bills, for example, outsideapparatuses such as various vending machines, as well as being installedbetween various game machines.

Additional advantages and modifications will readily occur to thoseskilled in the art. Therefore, the invention in its broader aspects isnot limited to the specific details and representative embodiments shownand described herein. Accordingly, various modifications may be madewithout departing from the spirit or scope of the general inventiveconcept as defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.

1. A bill handling device comprising: a bill insertion slot into which abill is inserted; tension rollers provided respectively on an upstreamside where the bill is inserted and on a downstream side where the billis ejected, the tension rollers being mounted to a rotatable supportshaft; a conveying belt wound around the tension rollers, the conveyingbelt conveying the bill inserted from the bill insertion slot; a pair ofpinch rollers forming a nip portion in contact with the tension rollerswhile pinching the conveying belt between the upstream side and thedownstream side; and a bill housing portion for housing the bill ejectedfrom the nip portion between the tension roller on the downstream sideand the pinch roller in contact with the tension roller, wherein: thenip portion between the tension roller and the pinch roller is set at aposition offset by a predetermined angle formed in a directionorthogonal to a conveying direction of the bill from a lowest point ofthe tension roller so that said pair of pinch rollers is disposedinwardly of the tension rollers on the upstream and downstream sides;and wherein: the bill housing portion is provided at a positionextending downwardly of the tension roller on the downstream side so asto house the bill ejected from the nip portion offset on the upstreamside between the tension and the pinch roller.
 2. The bill handlingdevice according to claim 1, wherein: said pair of pinch rollers have arotatable support shaft at a height substantially equal to the lowestpoint of said respective one of the tension rollers.
 3. The billhandling device according to claim 1, further comprising a bill pressingdevice for pressing the bill ejected from the offset nip portion in adirection orthogonal to the conveying direction of the bill while thebill is oriented in a direction parallel to the conveying direction ofthe bill, and housing the bill in the bill housing portion.
 4. The billhandling device according to claim 1, further comprising a drive unitfor movably driving the bill housing portion on the upstream side so asto eject the bill housing portion from the bill insertion slot sidethrough a downward side of said pair of pinch rollers.